


In a Different Light

by Maone



Category: Alarm für Cobra 11
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24947557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maone/pseuds/Maone
Summary: “You know what happens to those who dishonor their family, don’t you, Semir?” Mehmet threatened, pressing the tip of the knife harder against his abdomen.
Relationships: André Fux/Semir Gerkhan
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

“Still not talking? Fine, we can do this all day, kid.”

The irritated voice sounding from the hallway brought Andre’s attention away from his work. When he looked up at the windows of his office facing the other offices, he caught glimpse of Semir and his partner making their way through with a young man walking between them.

He couldn’t have been more than eighteen, Andre observed. Probably some petty car thief they found during their patrol, he thought. The youth of seemingly turkish descent, walked along in silence while Tom ranted on with seemingly a lot more frustration than his partner, so it was safe to assume the kid gave him some trouble during the arrest.

Tom dragged the culprit towards their office, Semir lagging behind when one of their colleagues approached him, he paused short of Andre’s office and their eyes briefly met and the turk smiled at him until dimples appeared on his cheeks and his attention to the conversation somewhat drifted, contagiously, Andre found himself smiling back until Tom called out to his partner and Semir hurried after him to their office.

They’ve been engaged for two months now and yet, their developing relationship has still been mostly kept secret and only few of their colleagues had known. Semir had worn the ring which Andre gave him after proposing, it was a plain gold ring he used to wear on his neck as a pendant after his mother died. It looked nothing special, but held a deep meaning for him, so seeing Semir wear it religiously every day regardless of the short turk never wearing any jewelry before, did leave a warm feeling in Andre’s chest.

He returned to his unfinished paperwork with a pleased smile.

It only took couple of minutes before Andre’s attention was; much to his frustration, dragged away from work again when he heard the sound of clattering blinds hitting a glass door as Tom exited his office with frustration drawn across his features.

Andre tried to resume his work, but the sound of Tom’s constant pacing outside his office, caused the brunet drop his pen with a long exhale and head over to see what the issue was.

When he opened the door, Tom was talking to Eike, the younger colleague giving him a pitiful pat on the shoulder.

“Their community is just distrustful, we had the same problems with David when we stopped this one guy and the entire time he pretended he couldn’t speak German but when we threatened to have his precious Audi towed, suddenly he fluently protested.” She assured.

“The boy is giving you trouble?” Andre chided in, approaching the due. Tom sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

“We got a report of some teens setting cars on fire in a parking lot.” He confided.“Found this kid trying to act casual but absolutely reeking of gasoline, there’s no doubt that he was involved in the arson, but he won’t say anything. Semir’s trying to talk to him since the kid appears to be from his old home district.”

Andre’s eyes were drawn to the duo inside the office opposite of him. The young man was sat down in a chair with his head bowed, stubbornly avoiding Semir’s gaze as the detective spoke to him with brows knitted together, glaring at the youth with demanding eyes.

The sight made Andre’s lips twitch with a smile. It was practically impossible to be intimidated by Semir, besides his obvious lack of height, chocolate eyes curtained with long eyelashes and pink tip of a tongue that darted out every now and then in concentration, Semir had natural softness to his personality that showed afar. 

Now of course this might be simply Andre’s biased perception of his fiance since Tom always declared Semir as being an utter tasmanian devil when irritated, but after knowing his lover’s new partner for a while, he observed they drove each other completely nuts but would hide a body if the other asked him to.

“I doubt he’ll get anything out of him, especially if that kid’s part of a gang. Semir could be his best friend and he still wouldn’t say a word to snitch out his buddies, too much of a risk for him.” Andre stated, watching as Semir stalked around the teen appearing more anxious than intimidating.

Eike smiled sympathetically.

“Want to grab coffee? I could use a short break.” She offered. Tom glanced at the office.

“I suppose, that’ll probably take a while.” He droned and turned to Andre who was still staring at Semir.”Are you coming?”

Andre snapped his attention back towards the duo. “Hm? Sure, why not.” He said and ventured towards the cafeteria. Tom and Eike exchanged an amused look.

“Big puppy in love.” Eike scoffed, nudging her colleague as they followed in Andre’s hasty retreat.

“They both have been dancing around each other like two lovestruck teenagers, you’d think they’d be past that after being together for so long.” Tom asserted.” Semir’s trying to act like he’s not over the moon with the whole engagement thing, but there’s not a moment when he’s not playing with his ring.”

Eike giggled.

“Don’t worry Tom, I’m sure you’ll get to annoy him with engagement of your own one day too.” She reassured. 

“What do you mean one day, I had my ring ready and everything and now you’re backing out?” Tom laid his hand over his chest in mock shock and Eike pushed him as they both laughed.

\-----

Semir watched the youngster warily, he stopped trying to coarse the answers out of him a while ago. When he raised his eyes to where his partner was standing moments ago and saw him gone, he breathed in relief, feeling some of the pressure off his shoulders.

He couldn’t tell Tom that he knew their suspect.

“What were you thinking Mehmet?” He exhaled sharply, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his temples. “I thought I told you to stop hanging out with those guys, they’re only getting you in trouble.”

At last, the youngster’s head raised up and Semir opened his eyes to be met with an angry look.

“Those guys are my family, more than you have ever been,  _ hain _ .” Mehmet spat.

Semir got right in the youngster’s personal space, glaring down at him.

“Your family, huh? Your family is at home trying to get by every month, that’s where your family is, Mehmet. Those guys that you are trying to cover for so much, wouldn’t even break a sweat if you ended up going to jail for them.” He snapped. 

“What the fuck would you know?” Mehmet hissed, pushing Semir back. “Don’t give me this pitiful talk about them when everybody knows my father is a worthless drunk and my mother’s too scared to lift a finger.” Upon seeing the look of surprise on the detective’s face, Mehmet sneered. “Oh, but you didn’t know did you? When was the last time you’ve been home, Semir? What about your family? How do you think they’re doing when their son is a fucking cop?” Mehmet rose to his feet, despite Semir’s warning and approached the short officer.

“Mehmet you better sit down if you don’t want to spend the night in a cell.”

But the intimidated youth ignored him, his voice lowering dangerously.

“There’s been some talk on the street, that Gerkhan likes himself some cop dick, got a cozy apartment down the good boys district with one.” 

Semir’s blood ran cold.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He defended, but in his mind, all alarm bells were going off.

And for a good reason. The glint of steel lowered Semir’s gaze to Mehmet’s hand clutching a switch knife and grim realization struck him, they didn’t search Mehmet for weapons before they brought him in.

Semir automatically reached for his gun, but Mehmet was too close and slapped his hand away from his attempt. pressing the switchblade discreetly against the detective’s abdomen. Semir’s eyes darted to the hallway, but nobody seemed to notice anything yet much to his dismay.

“You know what happens to those who dishonor their family, don’t you, Semir?” Mehmet threatened, pressing the tip of the knife harder against his abdomen.

“You’ll get life in prison if you do this, Mehmet, it’s not worth it.” Semir appealed, voice rising in fear and drawing the attention of officers outside, the muted conversations coming to a halt as eyes turned to the office. 

Mehmet shot a look towards the door and the open window on the opposite side and Semir hoped the young man wouldn’t do something incredibly stupid than he has already. There was a visible reluctance to his action, the knife trembling slightly against Semir’s abdomen as Mehmet debated his next move.

But all of Semir’s hopes died the moment the door to the office opened and Bonrath poked his head in.

“Everything alright, Semir?” He asked reluctantly, giving Mehmet a warning look.

Mehmet’s hand clutched the fabric of Semir’s jacket and the detective got only a brief look of the youngster’s anxiety dissolving into cold determination before he was pulled into a harsh embrace, the knife driving harshly into his abdomen knocking all the air out of his lungs and turning his pained scream into nothing but a strained gasp.

“We’re fine.” Mehmet said, but his attempt fell flat when the officer threw Semir one glance as soon as he heard the gasp and reached reached to his belt for his gun.

“Step away from him, slowly!” He ordered loudly as crowd of officers quickly gathered upon hearing the sudden commotion. Mehmet still gripped the knife tightly in his hand even as it grew slippery and the body it lay within began to falter, forcing Mehmet to back Semir against the desk before he’d lose his grip. 

Cursing inwardly at the situation he was in right now, Mehmet searched for a way to escape, ignoring Bonrath’s continuous warnings to release Semir as more and more officers gathered. 

\---

“Did you really beat up a bartender and got away with it?” Tom queried disbelievingly. Andre shrugged.

“I didn’t beat him up, he was resisting arrest so I had to arrest him with more forceful techniques.” He defended.

“Yeah, you beat him up.” Tom repeated and Eike chuckled beside him. Just as Andre opened his mouth to argue, he was interrupted by Bonrath’s shout.

“I told you to back away!”

The trio exchanged a startled look and all bolted towards the source of commotion. They were met with a crowd surrounding Tom’s and Semir’s office, so it was difficult to see what was actually going on. With Bonrath’s serious warning however, it was obvious something was terribly wrong and Andre forced his way through the officers to get closer.

“What’s going on here?!” Engelhardt shouted as she exited her office and further words died in her mouth when at last the crowd parted enough for her and now for Andre to present the youthful suspect who appeared so harmless moments ago, now holding Semir tightly against his chest in what almost appeared to be a hug, his hand now curling around the turk’s handgun and pointing it back at Bonrath.

Andre came to a stop beside Bonrath who kept his gun trained at the youth, whose eyes darted wildly from one officer to another, Andre couldn’t see Semir’s face, his fiance head bowed and his hands tightly wrapped around the youth’s hand near his middle.

“Drop the gun, you’ve got nowhere to go, it’s pointless to do this.” Andre warned the youth, who pressed himself further against Semir, drawing a pained groan out of him, Andre’s brow furrowed at that and his eyes fell to Semir’s hand on his abdomen again.

And then he saw the small dark puddle forming at their feet and the Semir’s faltering posture.

Tom only managed to squeeze through the wall of officers when Andre bellowed in fury and shoved past his stunned colleague to charge the young man still very readily aiming his gun at them.

“Andre, stop!” Tom shouted a horrified warning and the gun went off and the entire station erupted in chaos as people screamed and a fight broke out. Tom’s hands shot out to his ears as bullets whizzed past his head and only narrowly missed him just as Andre’s fist connected with the youth’s temple. The force of the impact sent him tumbling backwards releasing his hold on the detective and as Semir fell to the ground with a cry, Tom saw his partner clutching for the knife morbidly sticking out of his abdomen.

“Semir!” He shouted over the commotion and shoving past the disoriented colleagues, he rushed to his fallen partner’s side, grabbing a hold of his hands before he could pull the knife out.”Don’t touch it, you’ll hurt yourself more!” He warned, trying to hold his own increasing panic at bay as he dragged Semir’s bloody hands away from the wound. Beside them Andre was still mercilessly landing punches on the already bleeding youth.

“Andre!” Tom shouted at his colleague again, but it was to no avail, Andre wasn’t listening and Tom feared he might genuinely kill the young man. It was then that Semir’s eyes rose to look at his lover and Tom could see from the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes just how much pain he was in, when Semir snapped.

“Andre, stop it, right now!”

And Andre’s punches came to a halt soon after, angry eyes turning towards them and upon meeting Semir’s, all the fight draining from his body. Andre released the beaten youth and dropped to his knees beside Semir, the turk reaching out to him.

“I know you’re angry, love, but getting yourself arrested for murder isn’t going to help.” Semir said shakily while caressing his fiance’s cheek. A crushed expression flashed across Andre’s features and his eyes fell to the knife still obscenely sticking out of Semir’s abdomen, anger once more bubbling up inside him.

“Call an ambulance!” He bellowed at the stunned colleagues and Andrea crawled from underneath her desk with a sob, her trembling hand reaching for a phone while Andre gathered his lover close as if he could protect him when it was all already over. He pressed his hand on the wound, carefully avoiding the knife, the motion still drew a gasp of pain from Semir and Andre murmured an apology, pressing their foreheads together affectionately.

Eike and David rushed over to the unconscious attacker now bleeding heavily on the ground next to the trio, Tom looking at them worriedly as they checked for pulse. Eike nodded.

“He’s alive, but we’ll need an ambulance for him too.” She proclaimed.

“Like hell we do! Bastard can drop dead for all I care.” Andre snapped, holding his precious burden close to his body, eyes burning through the injured attacker. Tom placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, glancing at Semir’s pained face now pressed into the crook of his lover’s neck, his breathing laboured.

Engelhardt knelt next to them, squeezing Andre’s arm still firmly pressed against the wound, to get his attention and the wide grey eyes darted to hers, revealing just how terrified the usually self assured detective really was.

“Andre, you need to calm down, ambulance is already on its way.” She assured him quietly, her eyes glancing at the staring officers, all clearly taken aback at Andre’s excessive reaction to Semir’s injury, the turk now nestled across the former’s lap, Andre holding him protectively, ignoring the looks that were aimed his way. Engelhardt acknowledged the attention drawn to them and stood up, facing the rest of the officers.

“Everybody out!” She ordered and turned to the remaining officers in the room. “Eike and David will keep an eye on the man until paramedics can tend to him.”

Once people retreated, Engelhardt sighed and looked worriedly at her injured officer who was oddly silent.

“Is he still conscious?” She asked Andre who lowered his gaze to him, Semir sighed against his neck.

“Still kicking, chief.” The turk muttered and Andre placed a kiss to the top of his lover’s head.

Engelhardt smiled in relief at her detective’s ability to still retain some humor even in his state.

“Never a boring day with you is it, Gerkhan?” She concluded.

“Getting stabbed isn’t on my list of entertainment, chief” The offended mutter made Andre and Tom chuckle. Semir reached out to rest his bloody hand over Andre’s on top of his wound, biting back a groan and squeezing his eyes shut. Andre’s brow furrowed, he exchanged a worrisome look with Tom who saw the significantly expanding puddle of blood beneath them despite the injury not being exposed.

“How deep is it?” Tom asked quietly as Andre adjusted his hold on Semir.

“All the way to the hilt, I can only feel the handle, hopefully the knife wasn’t long.” Andre muttered, watching Semir’s hand tighten around his every now and then with each spasm of pain.

Engelhardt walked out of the office after a moment to check on the status of the ambulance, Tom glanced at the unconscious man in the corner of the room.

“The kid was so passive since we caught him that it didn’t even occur to me we didn’t search him.” He said mournfully.

“What happened, happened.” Andre concluded finally. “I don’t know why he attacked Semir, but I doubt any of us could have predicted it.”

Tom’s eyes fell to the expanding puddle of blood once again. “Shit.” He cursed under his breath and turned towards the door, anxiety beginning to build up at the lack of paramedics rushing in. “Where the hell are they?” He rose to his feet and stomped over to the window expectantly.

This is exactly why it was inconvenient for their station to be so far out of the city, if anything ever went wrong, the distance robbed them of their precious minutes and it’s already been at least five minutes since they called.

“Semir?” Tom turned to Andre’s worried voice. The detective shook the turk gently, Tom didn’t even notice how suddenly quiet his partner became.

There was no response and they both watched as Semir’s head lolled limply on Andre’s shoulder once he shook him. They exchanged a terrified look, Tom rushed over as Andre’s fingers shot out, pressing against his lover’s throat, searching for pulse.

After several agonizing seconds Andre cursed under his breath, throwing Tom a serious look as Eike and David watched in worry.

“He needs a hospital, now.” Andre snapped and gathered the limp body in his arms, rising to his feet with a grunt, Tom holding out a helping hand to steady him. 

“The ambulance still isn’t here.” Tom brought Semir’s limp arm to rest on his lap and followed Andre out of the door.

“Fuck the ambulance. Get the car. Go!” Andre shouted and held his lover tighter, Tom ran ahead without giving it a second thought.

He nearly knocked over Engelhardt, only narrowly avoiding her, she shouted after him, but he ignored her, shoving the front door to the station wide open and running past the confused colleagues, staring at him like he was some kind of a madman. He fumbled for his keys and unlocked the Mercedes, jumping in the driver seat.

Engelhardt stared after Tom with furrowed brows until Andre was rushing past her with Semir’s seemingly unconscious form in his arms. 

“What happened?” She exclaimed as Andre maneuvered through the narrow door with his burden.

“He’s getting worse, we can’t wait anymore!” He shouted back and headed out of the front door. As he disappeared out of the sight, Engelhardt’s sight fell to the ground and the drops of blood following his trail like breadcrumbs.

Tom was just opening the backseat door when Andre rushed out of the building to the startled gasps of his colleagues once they saw Semir’s unresponsive body clutched in his arms.

“What are you doing? The ambulance is on its way!” Someone shouted while Andre carefully laid Semir down on the backseat and climbed in after him, Tom shut the door behind them, waving off the questioning colleagues and got in the driver’s seat.

He turned the ignition on, looking over his shoulder as he threw a seatbelt on and put the car in gear. “Is he still breathing?” He asked as Andre pulled Semir on top of his lap, placing his hand on his cheek and caressing it gently with a furrowed brows.

“Yeah, but he’s starting to turn really pale.” Andre exhaled sharply and hugged his fiance tightly against his chest, securing him more than any seatbelt in the world ever could.

Tom nodded and slammed his foot on the gas, the car jolting to life with a loud screech of tires.

Had the situation been different, Tom would consider this the best ride of his life, overpassing cars at top speed, expertly avoiding any obstacles and truly living up to his racing past. Through his whole career he’s never driven this fast, this consistently without any hiccups, but one brief glance in the rear view mirror gave him a quick slap to reality.

Andre caressed Semir’s grievously pale cheek with tenderness which would have otherwise been an admirable sight, but the grief stricken expression on his face told another tale and Tom feared that his friend might be preparing himself for the worst and he swallowed the lump forming in his throat, turning his eyes on the road ahead in determination.

“He’s not going to die, Andre.” He announced firmly, pushing his foot firmly against the gas pedal even though it could go no further and Tom was sure the engine would burst into flames from overheating soon enough.

“Yeah.” Came the uncomfortably plain reply from the back and Tom bit his lip, ignoring the burning in his eyes. He didn’t see the way Andre clutched the hand that bore his engagement ring.

Soon the hospital’s cross came into a view like a burning beacon of hope and Tom nearly drove straight through the gate in his attempt to bring them as close to the door as possible. His drastic entrance drawing the staff’s attention immediately. He jumped out of the car, opening the backseat door so Andre could get out.

“We need help, officer down!” He shouted and placed a supportive hand on Andre’s back as they rushed towards the entrance, several staff members running up to meet them.

“What happened?” asked one of the staff members, already looking Semir over, while another person wheeled in a stretcher and Andre carefully lowered his fiance on top of it. the white sheet underneath drastically enhancing just how pale the turk got during the short trip.

“He’s been stabbed, it’s only been fifteen minutes or so.” Andre explained, frowning when he was pushed away from his lover as one of the nurses placed a resuscitation bag over Semir’s mouth and nose and without saying another word, they rushed down the hall. Andre made to follow, but Tom stopped him, grabbing his arm tightly and when Andre’s head snapped to glare at him angrily, Tom shook his head.

“Let them do their job, Andre. We’ve done everything we could.”

He saw the fight drain out of his friend’s eyes in an instant, replaced with the gaze of a man at complete loss and with heaviness in his step, Andre turned around and walked over to one of the many plastic chairs, sitting down, his hands running through his hair to his face where they came to a stop and Tom could only watch with sadness as his friend’s strong composure slowly but surely crumbled away until the broad shoulders began to shake, his protective wall torn down, letting the grief pour out like a floodwater.

Seeing the dried blood on the grieving detective’s hands hit Tom like a ton of bricks and he swallowed thickly.

How could he say that Semir would be okay? He wasn’t the one cradling his body from the moment it happened, Andre was.

Andre who was now quietly pouring out his grief in a small uncomfortable plastic hospital chair.

Any reassuring words Tom might have had, died in his throat and the detective resigned to heavy silence instead.

\-----

Time passed agonizingly slow while both men sat side by side in the uncomfortably cold hospital hallway waiting for the news like two prisoners waiting for an execution. Andre’s emotions came to a quick standstill after his breakdown and he sat motionless in the same position ever since, Tom looked at him in worry from time to time. It didn’t seem like Andre was holding out hope the longer they sat there, his eyes were dull and expressionless and it frustrated Tom. This just wasn’t like him.

“Stop acting like he’s dead.” He snapped after a while, standing out of the chair and pacing back and forth in frustration. Andre’s eyes slowly raising to look at him.

“What?” He responded coldly and Tom’s frown only deepened.

“You know what, you’re getting ready for them to come out and say he’s dead, give Semir some fucking credit!” Tom shouted and Andre looked at him oddly and Tom sighed.”Ever since you proposed, he wouldn’t shut up about it, do you think he’d just give up like that when he was so excited about the idea of marrying you?”

Tom huffed in annoyance, pacing around restlessly, Andre watched him silently his hands clasped and pressed to his lips, hiding the growing smile.

Just then someone finally came through the door, Andre immediately rose to his feet as they both stared at the doctor expectantly. 

“Are you two with the stabbed policeman?” He asked looking from one to another. They nodded hastily. The doctor smiled and looked down on the folder he was holding.

“He suffered heavy blood loss, but we’re confident that he’ll survive without any lasting damage. The knife didn’t hit any of the important organs and besides causing a minor fracture to the ilium; the pelvic bone, there was no other internal damage and the wound should fully heal with time.”

“Thank god” Tom exhaled with relief and upon seeing the absolutely stunned expression on his friends face, laughed and smacked Andre on the back so hard the man nearly toppled over. “I told you, didn’t I? I told you!” Tom exclaimed.

“Can we see him?” Andre asked as soon as he recovered, throwing Tom a side glare but the detective was far too pleased to be bothered.

“We’ll move him to a private room shortly, but he’ll be likely too tired to carry on a conversation, so I can allow only a brief visit for today. Does he have any immediate family we can contact over his eventual release?” The asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Andre started and Tom gave him a curious look. “I’ll leave you my phone number.”

“Ah and you are….?” The doctor trailed off.

“His fiance, Andre Fux.” The proudness behind those words made Tom chuckle in amusement.

“Oh...that explains it.” The doctor proclaimed. At the surprised look from the two men, he explained himself. “ He’s been asking for someone with such a name as soon as he woke up. I was going to ask you if you were familiar with the name.”

Andre’s eyes softened at that.

“I’ll send a nurse to get you when we’ve moved him.” The doctor reassured and left. As soon as the man left, Andre exhaled sharply and sat heavily back on the plastic chair.

“Thank god….” he muttered, closing his eyes.

Tom watched the relief wash over his friend and smiled. 

\-----

Andre opened the door to the room he was directed to. His eyes immediately fell to the bed positioned near the windows and the figure resting underneath the thin sheet. Closing the door behind him, Andre slowly made towards the bed getting a closer look on his resting lover. Semir laid on his back with his head turned towards the window and he appeared to be asleep. Andre’s eyes wandered towards the now much less pale hand clutching at the white sheet, the familiar gold band still around his ring finger despite everything that happened.

Andre found himself smiling and feeling overwhelming fondness flutter in his chest. He walked around to the side Semir was facing and saw his lover’s small frown while his eyes were closed. He carefully reached out, smoothing the wrinkles and running his finger over the much healthier looking cheek, the warm skin pleasant under his touch. Then his lover’s eyelids fluttered and those gorgeous chocolate eyes met his gaze and tired smile formed on Semir’s lips upon seeing him, those precious dimples forming on his cheeks. Andre leaned down, his fingers still comfortingly caressing his fiance’s cheek.

“Hi, little bird.” He murmured.

“Hi, love.” Came the soft reply.

Semir let out a little sigh, pressing his cheek into the touch.

“How are you feeling?” Andre asked after a moment.

“Tired.” Semir muttered and as he tried to shift and failed, another frown formed on his forehead. “And sore.” He added unhappily.

“That doesn’t sound fun.” Andre noted quietly and moved his fingers over his lover’s lips, pressing a light kiss against the dry skin. Semir made a please humming sound at the affectionate gesture and closed his eyes again.

Soon his breathing evened out and Andre slowly pulled his hand away. He watched his lover for a brief moment before placing one more kiss to his temple and pulling the sheet over his shoulders.

“I’ll see you after you wake up, little bird.” He promised softly and headed out of the door, letting his exhausted but alive fiance rest.

Tom waited for him in the hallway and when Andre closed the door behind him quietly, Tom walked up to him expectantly.

“How is he?” He queried.

“Tired, but he already looks a lot better.He just fell asleep.” Andre said and glanced at the clock. “Think you can head back to the office and let Engelhardt know?” He asked.

Tom nodded.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m sure she expects you to stay here with him anyway.” He reassured. “Call me when he wakes up, alright?” 

“I will.” Andre promised and patted Tom on the arm as he left. “Thanks, by the way.” He called out after him and Tom glanced around his shoulder. 

“Don’t mention it.” He said with a smile and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This might be the final chapter, I might write a sequel eventually.

Tom pulled up at the station and parked his car next to Andre’s which was left behind in the haste.Upon exiting, his eyes fell on a state police car parked on the opposite side of the lot. Furrowing his brows, Tom entered the station, passing by several officers he didn’t recognize.

Along the way, his eyes traced the dried drops of blood leaving a trail from where everything went down. Once he’d entered the main hall where most activity appeared to be at the moment, he saw several officers standing around his office with one of the investigators snapping photos of what Tom realized were the splotches of blood from where their suspect inadvertently ended up after Andre apprehended him.

Not far from that spot was another, much larger stain beneath Andrea’s table; Tom stared at it, coldness within him sending a shiver through his body at the thought of what the entire ordeal could have ended up in. It looked like so many of the murder scenes he’s been to, he was used to sight of blood, but this unsettled him and soon his eyes were drawn away from the spot, the thought of Semir dying in a place which should’ve been one of the safest to be at out of everything they’ve been through, it felt surreal.

He was snapped out of his thought when Andrea called his name and ran over to him, leaving the investigator interviewing her behind with a puzzled look.

“How’s Semir?” She demanded, grabbing him painfully by the arms.

He felt bad for her, over the time Tom’s been working here it was apparent that Andrea had feelings for his partner, Whenever he brought it up to Semir, his partner would just shrug and say she’d move on, eventually. He never understood why wouldn’t Semir just tell her the truth.

After what occurred today though, Tom was certain there would be some talk.

“He’ll live.” Tom reassured and Andrea exhaled a sigh of relief, their two older colleagues walked up behind her after they were done with their own interview.

“Where’s Andre?” Herzberger said, looking over Tom’s shoulder.

“Stayed with Semir at the hospital, we figured it would be for the best since someone needs to keep us updated.” Tom explained, aware that Andre probably wouldn’t have left the hospital either way.

“I’ve never seen him so furious, he was ready to kill that kid.” Bonrath muttered, glancing at the investigators moving about behind them.

“He seemed really distraught, I had no idea he cared about Semir so much.” Herzberger agreed. Tom scratched the back of his neck awkwardly aware that the discussion might take direction which he’d rather avoid.

“How’s the guy doing anyway? Any update on him?” He asked quickly.

“Not great from what I’ve heard, Andre left quite the number on him, chief is doing her best to steer it into case of necessary force, everybody’s been seeing it the same way so far.” Herzberger said, dropping the initial topic much to Tom’s relief.

“Let’s hope it stays that way, we’ve got enough problems as it is. ” The detective agreed.

Soon after Engelhardt walked out of her office and upon spotting him in the hall, headed straight towards him.

“You’re back, how’s Semir?” She asked and Tom saw a man walk out of her office, joining them.

“He’s going to survive, it was a close call though..” Tom explained briefly, watching the other man warily. He looked awfully formal, likely someone from headquarters.

“The state crime police is taking over this case. At this time we’re only handling this as an assault on an officer, but until we can speak to Mr.Gerkhan and the young man, we can’t say how will things turn out.” The man said.

“Detective Sommer.” Engelhardt introduced him and then nodded towards Tom. “Detective Kranich.”

“Are you suggesting that my partner provoked our suspect into attacking him?” Tom squinted, the thought completely ludicrous in his mind. Semir would never do something as stupid as that.

The detective sighed at Tom’s clear denial.

“It’s not my suggestion, Mr.Kranich, I’m going off what Mr.Abdul testified to the emergency services during his transport to the hospital. He indicated that your partner forced his hand into what he’s done and admitted that he’s acquainted with Mr.Gerkhan.” He explained.

Tom frowned.

“Semir mentioned possibly knowing the suspect, but I think he would have told me if there was any bad blood between them.”

“It’s admirable that you’ve got so much trust in your partner Mr.Kranich, but the attack of such nature strongly indicates that it was personal.” Sommer explained and turned to Engelhardt.

“I’ll need Mr.Fux to come to our station for questioning, where can I find him?”

Engelhardt exchanged a look with Tom.

“He’s still at the hospital.” He started and Sommer turned back to him. “With Semir.”

“I see.” Sommer clicked his tongue.

“I’ll tell Mr.Fux contact you as soon as he returns.” Engelhardt chipped in with a smile. Sommer appeared displeased, but nodded regardless and left.

As Engelhardt walked back to her office, Tom followed her.

“Semir provoking that kid into stabbing him! Do they have any idea how ridiculous it sounds? The only reason they were left alone was because Semir wanted to coax him into a confession, not rile him up, I can’t believe this.”

“I’m sure nothing will come out of this, Tom, despite of what Mr.Abdul says, all odds are against him, even if nobody had seen the initial confrontation if there even had been one, a lot of people had witnessed Abdul clearly resisting when told to let go of Semir. Only issue might lay with explaining Andre’s actions following that ordeal, there’s a fine line between defense and an assault. I haven’t told Sommer about the nature of Fux’s and Gerkhan’s relationship because I’m afraid that even with that, state police wouldn’t be too lenient.“

“Well….” Tom ran his hand through his hair awkwardly.

Engelhardt sighed and her eyes softened.

“Things are never easy with these two.”

Tom nodded.

\----

Andre resorted to pacing down the hallway, boredom causing him to read every available flyer about various vitamins, fortunately by the time he ran out of reading material a nurse appeared at last and walked straight to Semir’s room. Andre waited for several anxious moments before the young woman opened the door again and nodded in his direction. He quickly stood up and made his way towards her.

“Don’t worry if he seems a bit disoriented, he’s still heavily medicated and it will take a while to wear off.” She warned and stepped aside, noting that the officer didn’t seem to be paying attention to her, instead his worrying gaze was set on the patient behind her. Andre walked past her without a word and the nurse closed the door behind him with a pitiful smile aimed at his back.

Semir turned his head slowly in Andre’s direction and met his eyes with half lidded stare still veiled with remnants of sleep. It was a terribly vulnerable sight and Andre sat down next to the bed, grasping the hand laid above the thin white sheet. Semir’s eyes slowly lowered to their now linked hands and Andre felt the finger underneath his flex lightly, squeezing weakly.

“Hi, big guy.” Semir slurred, small smile tugging at the corners of his lips but not quite making it. Sad but adorable is the only thing that could come to Andre’s mind upon seeing that. He’d never cease to be amazed at Semir’s ability to make his heart race with unspeakable admiration at the most inappropriate times, but here they were.

Semir’s tired chuckle snapped him out of his thought and Andre looked down into the chocolate eyes studying him under heavy lids.

“You’re handsome when you think, should do it more often.” The teasing tone was masked with exhaustion, but it still made Andre’s lips tug with a smile of his own.

“You’re pretty cheeky for someone who was at death’s door couple hours ago.” He asserted, however he regretted his words when Semir’s smile formed into a small frown.

“Was it that bad?” He asked weakly and Andre squeezed his hand firmly when he saw the pained expression. “But I don’t remember…” Semir trailed off, looking somewhere behind Andre and blinking slowly. 

It was apparent he was still out of it.

Andre sighed and raised the cool hand to press a kiss to the knuckles, his finger brushing gently over the gold band wrapped around Semir’s ring finger.

“It’s okay, just relax, it’ll come back to you eventually.” He reassured his lover.

Semir slowly shifted his eyes back to him and watched him wordlessly for a long while, before growing too tired and Andre saw the half lidded eyes close again wíth a quiet exhale. He lowered Semir’s hand along with his slowly back on the sheet, intending to let go, but Semir still held on, so Andre didn’t release his grip and left his hand resting with Semir’s on top of the sheet.

When his lover laid there with his eyes closed for a while, Andre thought he had fallen asleep, but as soon as he shifted, Semir’s eyes slowly reopened again, attention very much on him.

“I’m so tired that I could sleep for a year.” He murmured.

“You’d get bored after a day and worse,” Andre replied with amusement, his fingers tapped on the gold ring on his lover’s finger.”Still got a wedding to attend to.”

“We don’t even have a date yet, could take a year, who knows.” Semir chuckled weakly.

Andre looked at him seriously now.

“I don’t know about you, but I think one year of waiting was enough for me.”

The chocolate eyes turned to his and despite the cloudiness within them from the medication, Andre saw the all too familiar softness which his lover would look at him with every time they exchanged words of admiration. In the past, Andre had never considered himself as an affectionate person, it was all about lust and need to claim, he’d take what was offered and move on and that was it.

When he met Semir those years ago, the short turk left a lasting impression on him that stuck to this day. They were complete opposites in almost every sense and Andre always found him as way too soft, too easy to be remotely capable of doing his job as a cop, but somehow, Semir managed to surprise him.

He was good. More than good at what he did and Andre quickly learned to rely on their partnership. Semir was soft, but he wasn’t afraid to walk into a warehouse full of people who could easily individually overpower him, just so he could help his partner. Despite his drugged haze back then, Andre could still vividly remember Semir’s soft words and careful touch as he tried to comfort him until help arrived and he could have sworn that was one of the reasons he didn’t end up having a heart attack like the kid before him. Andre was driven with need again back then, but it differed from any of those times before. There was a surge of protectiveness that came along with it and the want that he felt towards his softie of a partner, became far more than he expected.

So maybe it wasn’t so surprising that he somehow ended up engaged to that softie.

“You’re being very handsome again.” Semir’s teasing voice brought him out of his thought and Andre straightened up in his chair and squeezed Semir’s hand lightly.

“Are you sure you’re not drugged up with compliments? You’re spilling one after another, I’m almost worried to leave you alone here with the nurses.” He joked. Semir gave a little shrug.

“Maybe.”

Silence settled over them then, Semir’s eyes closed once again and his lips parted in a quiet sigh, Andre saw a small frown form on his forehead and massaged his thumb over the tensing skin of Semir’s palm. He wanted to ask him what happened at the office.

Semir nearly died in his arms today and Andre still wasn’t entirely over that whole ordeal, getting attacked in his own office at the police station wasn’t something he ever worried about and the whole situation was leaving him puzzled and angry. Puzzled, because of how unpredictable the attack was and angry that nobody did anything to stop it. Whether or not they could have, didn’t matter. 

He should probably ask Semir about the attack before someone else does, since it was obvious that Semir knew the kid, so whatever happened, had to be personal.

But looking at the dark circles underneath his lover’s eyes and the overall exhausted frame of his body, the question seemed unimportant right now, he just wanted to hold his lover and feel his warmth and enjoy the reassurance that he was alive and staying that way. He’d ask questions later.

\------

  
  


Tom returned to the hospital once the state police was done with interrogating the entire station, the tedious process dragged on for several hours, so the sun was going down by the time he pulled up at the hospital. Andre hasn’t called him since he left him there, so Tom hoped his partner didn’t turn for worse after he left.

After announcing his arrival to the receptionist, he strode towards the room he knew his partner was in, box of chocolate in his hand. It really wasn’t much, but he didn’t want to come completely empty-handed.

Once he found the room, he knocked lightly and opened the door. The room was lit up only with the remaining rays of a sunset laid across the white bedsheets, Tom’s eyes immediately fell on the figure beneath them, laying on his back, Semir’s face was turned away from the door, towards the window, appearing to be asleep. Andre sat on a chair next to the bed with magazine in his lap which he flipped through with his free hand, his other as Tom observed seconds later, clasping Semir’s and rubbing gentle circles into the skin.

Andre raised his head from the magazine once Tom took several steps into the room.

“So, how did it go?” Andre asked, keeping his tone low.

“As well as you’d expect.” Tom replied quietly, glancing at Semir with worry. “How is he? Did you talk to him?”

“Only briefly, they put him on strong meds, so he’s been sleeping most of the time.” Andre released the limp hand with one final squeeze and stood up. Tom walked around the bed and placed the chocolates on a nightstand while Andre silently reached out and brushed his finger over the sleeping man’s cheek in a gentle caress, the usually alert Semir didn’t react to the touch at all, there was only a brief flutter below his eyelids, but that was it.

Tom sighed and crossed his arms.

“State police is getting involved.” He said finally and Andre halted in what he was doing and looked up at him.

“State police? What’s that got to do with them?” 

Tom shrugged, meeting Andre’s irritated look. “The kid’s apparently claiming that he stabbed Semir in self-defense.”

The furious look that crossed over his colleagues feature after that was something Tom expected, but before Andre said anything, his mouth snapped shut and his eyes fell to the sleeping form on the bed. He frowned and nodded to Tom to follow him outside the room. Before leaving, Tom gave his partner a light squeeze on the shoulder, looking him over pitifully.

Once outside, Tom closed the door quietly and watched Andre straighten up with a loud exhale.

“Fucking unbelievable, this is just fucking unbelievable.” His colleague growled at last, the veins in his neck swelling as his anger intensified. “Self-defense, huh? After he stabs a cop, takes his gun and waves it at everyone else, some fucking self-defense that is!” He spat and Tom glanced at the eyes now drawn to their conversation.

“Engelhardt doesn’t think anything will come out of that, he’s still the aggressor there, I’ve told them that Semir would never provoke the kid to attack him, it doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Did he say what Semir supposedly did while he was throwing those wild accusations around?” Andre asked.

Tom shook his head.

“Not that I know of, but I doubt it’ll hold any weight in the prosecution. They are suspecting it’s got something to do with you, especially with the way you reacted, which might be the bigger problem there.” He explained.

“The way I reacted? You mean the way I stopped him from finishing the job of  _ killing _ Semir?  **That’s** the problem?” Andre snarled. 

“Not for me, it’s not. But it’s not going to be easy to play this into justified course of action. They want to question you, so it’s safe to assume that they’ll expect an explanation and Semir being your boyfriend might not be enough.”

\-----

They talked for a while until it was late enough that they both had to leave, since Semir’s condition was already stable enough, the hospital wouldn’t let Andre stay overnight so with one last kiss to the sleeping man’s temple and receiving a quiet sigh as a reply, Andre left.

As expected, he received a call first thing in the morning and instead of heading to work, he drove towards the state police headquarters for what they said was only ‘couple of questions’, but he wasn’t stupid, he knew the interrogation talk like the back of his hand.

He was directed to a small isolated room and told to wait until an officer came to join him. With one quick look around, he spotted the hidden camera in the top left corner.

“Good morning, Mr.Fux. I’m detective Sommer.” Andre raised his eyes when the door opened and a man entered, extending his hand towards his for a quick handshake.

He shook the man’s hand briefly and leaned back in his chair as Sommer sat opposite of him, placing a folder before him.

“I’m sure you know why’re you here, so I hope we can go over this quickly.” Sommer said and put on reading glasses as he opened the file. “You used to be Gerkhan’s partner, from ‘96 to ‘98 correct?” He raised his eyes towards Andre.

“Yes, I was.” Andre affirmed, leaning against his elbow.

“I see.” Sommer flipped a page and crossed his hands. “Mr.Kranich hasn’t reported any prior incidents with his partner, but we found an instance in Gerkhan’s file from 1997 involving him in the arrest of his cousin for murder-”

“The charges were dropped, his cousin didn’t do it.” Andre interrupted.

Sommer eyes narrowed, but he continued.

“According to the file, Gerkhan trespassed into a suspect’s property with a gun and without a warrant.”

“The suspect was holding his cousin hostage and nearly killed Semir when he tried to stop him. I don’t know why that wasn’t added to the file, but that’s the way it happened.” Andre argued, keeping his cool despite the blood boiling within him.

“Are you aware of who Mr.Abdul is?” Sommer asked instead.

“Not personally.” Andre shook his head.

“Mr.Abdul is the young man who stabbed Gerkhan and who you apprehended after the fact. Mr.Abdul also claims to know Gerkhan, something the detective failed to mention to his partner during the initial arrest and neither did he mention it when Mr.Kranich left them alone. Do you have any idea why would Gerkhan hold that information back?” 

Andre bit his lip and cursed inwardly, he should have had asked Semir when there was the opportunity. He hated being in this position where any word could screw them over because he didn’t know what happened in the first place.

“I’m not in a position to say, I don’t know Abdul beyond the point of him being the man who assaulted my colleague. Whether or not there was a personal feud between the two of them, isn’t something I can confirm or deny.” He said finally.

Sommer, flipped to another page.

“You live with Gerkhan since the spring of 2000, are you two close?”

Ah, there it was. Andre was waiting for that question to come up at some point.

“Is that relevant to your investigation?” He questioned.

He didn’t miss the suspicious look that crossed over Sommer’s face.

“Your colleagues reported that you’ve been very distressed on the scene and reacted rather excessively when apprehending Mr.Abdul. With the background we’ve been given on Mr.Abdul, it might shed some light on the possible motive.” Sommer said with a nod.

Now that perked Andre’s interest. He straightened up in his chair. “Wait a minute-” He started, raising his finger to stop Sommer from continuing. “You think Abdul attacked Semir because of me?”

Sommer pondered on that question for a moment.

“We’re not sure what occurred between the two, but Mr.Abdul mentioned your name being part of the initial argument. Do you believe that Gerkhan would attack Mr.Abdul if he made a comment about your relationship?” He closed the file and turned his stare to Andre. “Is there a relationship between yourself and Gerkhan?”

Andre stared at him blankly.

Semir lashing out at someone who was talking crap about the two of them was something that Andre never considered, but again, Semir,  _ his _ Semir resorting to  _ assault _ was a thought he just couldn’t comprehend altogether.

“No.” He said firmly after a moment. “Absolutely not.”

Sommer raised an eyebrow. “No to what? Your relationship?”

Andre shook his head. “No, Semir wouldn’t attack Abdul, even if he made a comment on our relationship. He’s not violent.”

Understanding flashed across Sommers features. “Ah, I see.”

He inadvertently confirmed Sommer’s suspicion in that moment and figured there would be likely some consequences, but the more he thought about it later on, the less it bothered him. People would find out eventually and if it meant finding out through court because Andre defended his lover, then so be it.

\------

Andre found out later on when he went to the hospital that Semir was interrogated around the same time, apparently state police couldn’t care less about his weakened state and interrupted his rest to get a statement out of him.

Andre was angry, but it ended up playing in their favour since the detectives could see with their own eyes that Semir did not have any other wounds beside the one caused by Abdul, thus the possibility of assault was ruled out.

The court hearing occured a week later, just as Semir was finally released from the hospital. Despite movement still being difficult for him, Semir insisted on walking to the court building, so Andre walked alongside him, supporting his weight as much as he could, their hands entwined tightly without care for the onlookers.

Three hours later, Abdul, with his bruised face, was led out of the room with handcuffs after a guilty verdict of unprovoked assault on officer and Andre looked down on his lover, the two exchanging a quiet smile.

Tom was only just getting out of his seat when he heard the surprised “Oh dear…” next to him. He looked up at Engelhardt beside him who was staring ahead, now snickering and shaking her head in disbelief. He followed her line of sight and saw Andre leaning down to Semir, his eyes closed and his hand resting on the turk’s shoulder as they kissed amongst the leaving crowd, the little affectionate exchange going mostly unnoticed.

Semir’s hand rose up to Andre’s cheek as their kiss dissolved into small butterfly pecks, his finger tracing the stubbed cheek affectionately.

“So much for being discreet.” Tom muttered with a chuckle and followed the rest of the crowd out, leaving the two entranced colleagues behind.


End file.
